Why Rangers can see how £7m Stephy Mavididi price tag is justified

Rangers-linked Stephy Mavididi appeared to have a 2025-26 season to forget, on the surface at least.

After being relegated from the Premier League at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Leicester City were expected to challenge for an instant promotion last term.

Not only didn't that happen, the Foxes actually suffered an unthinkable relegation to League One, the third tier of English football.

Mavididi has been with Leicester since the summer of 2023, where he joined from French side Montpellier whom he spent three years with.

The 28-year-old joined the Foxes when they were a Championship team, won promotion to the Premier League and now is technically a League One player all in the space of three seasons at the King Power Stadium.

And, whilst his numbers on paper don't jump off the page from 2025-26 in terms of hard goal contributions, his potential to shine at Ibrox is there for all to see if you look deep enough.

Why Stephy Mavididi was among Championship's best in 2025-26

Ibrox News has covered reports linking Mavididi with a potential £7million move to Rangers this summer.

For that sort of money, Gers fans will want to feel confident that the former Arsenal academy talent will provide a solid return on the Club's investment.

However, in 42 Championship games for Leicester last season, the ex-England youth international scored just three times and provided only one assist.

That's not the sort of production that screams a £7m player, but his true impact and why that price tag is justified lies within his underlying numbers.

As per FotMob, Mavididi's 49 successful dribbles ranked him in the top 5.7 percentile of all Championship left wingers in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, his 123 touches in the opposition box placed him in the leading 7.6 per cent of his positional rivals, whilst he also took 61 shots on goal, created 24 chances and won 32 fouls respectively - all well above league average in his position.

Strangely enough though, Rangers may well get the most return on any potential Mavididi investment not by his impact in attack, but rather, in defence.

McInnes will love what Mavididi does defensively

Derek McInnes is the kind of demanding manager who expects all of his players to contribute to as many aspects of the game as possible.

If you're a winger and you're not tracking back or willing to get your shorts dirty in the tackle, then chances are you won't last long under his rule.

Mavididi may give off the impression of being a luxury flair player, but that's not the truth, as his numbers prove.

As per FotMob, his 52 tackles won and 126 recoveries made in 2025-26 ranked him in the leading 8.9 per cent of Championship left wingers.

He also scored among the very best in his position for his 89 defensive contributions, 15 interceptions, 21 clearances, 143 duels and 18 possessions won in the final third respectively.

So, this would suggest that in those big Old Firm clashes and (hopefully) in the crucial Scottish Premiership title-run in games, that he wouldn't run from the physical battle and can rise to those occasions.